A/N: So, this is soooomehow a filler chapter.. even though what happens is pretty significant I guess. I wanna thank you all again for the kind reviews, especially those of you who seem to put so much thought into it, thanks :)

And well, I'm aware I can't make everyone happy with this story, I guess that's the sucky part when you do a love triangle, some ppl end up hating you :P

Can't wait for tonight's episode... but that Brittany sneak peek? If that really happens and is not just a dream or sth... then IDK what to think anymore. *sigh* She better doesn't disappoint me, I need positive inspiration for this fic!

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Chapter 10

Spotting the Beetle, Santana felt hot and cold shivers run through her body. Sweat was building up on her forehead and she felt the very strong urge to just run away. But where? She certainly couldn't run back to Brittany and hide there, and waiting somewhere outside didn't sound too promising either. She figured she could just tell Stacey to leave her alone, or sneak into her house through the backdoor and play dead girl under her bed... - or she could just be brave and walk over there, face Stacey and have a normal and serious talk.

Moving closer to the car, Santana could see that Stacey was still sitting behind the steering wheel, her huge retro headphones on her ears, humming the melody of a song with her eyes closed.

The blonde opened her eyes in shock when the latina suddenly knocked on the window of the driver's door and motioned her to open it.

Letting her headphones rest on her shoulders, Stacey hastily shot down the window and looked at the girl next to her in awe.

"You wanna come inside?" Santana simply asked, figuring that she could spare the other girl a typical 'oh my god, what are you doing here?' - scene.

The blonde just nodded and got out of her car, following the latina inside the house and into her room. It was actually the first time for Stacey to be in the Lopez' house so she couldn't help but curiously look around.

Having sat down on a chair opposite the large bed, the blonde began to realize how terrible Santana looked. None of her usual outward perfection was left, she rather seemed as if she had cried for days and then ran a marathon without sleeping in between. Stacey felt incredibly sorry.

"I... um... you don't look too good" the blonde started, not really knowing how to put her thoughts into words.

"Thanks" Santana replied a little ironically, she knew that better than anyone else.

Picking up a box of cleansing tissues and starting to wipe one along her flushed cheeks, the latina tried to plan her next move. Enjoying the fresh smell on her skin, she felt like she just had to get out what was on her mind in order to come to any conclusion with the girl in front of her.

"Listen..." she started, expertly throwing the used tissue into the trash can underneath her desk and looking at Stacey more confidently than she had expected.

"I wanna be honest with you... I mean, we both saw now what happens if we keep secrets from each other and I really wanna avoid something like that in the future, so just let me spit it out."

"Yes, uh, sure" Stacey mumbled nervously, already having a vague idea what was about to come.

"I went over to Brittany's earlier. Confronted her about the list..."

Stacey felt her heart beat faster, seeing any chance of being with Santana fade away into the darkness.

"We had a fight - like... a major fight" the latina continued, still facing the blonde with a deep and serious look.

"I'm sorry" Stacey managed to bring out, her voice a little raspy.

"Then we kissed."

Santana pronounced the sentence slowly and looked Stacey straight in the eyes, waiting for any sign of emotional reaction.

"...okay..." the blonde replied insecure, not knowing if this was the latina's way of punishing her by breaking up with her excruciatingly slow on purpose.

"We didnt talk about it, I just left afterwards, but you deserve to know..." Santana said, seriously but not unfriendly.

"To be honest... I dont even really know where you and I are standing... and where I want us to stand... I mean, we never said we're a couple right?"

'We certainly behaved like one' Stacey had wanted to say but kept quiet.

"Well... I hope you believe me when I say I'm not meaning to hurt you and this wasn't any kind of a 'planned payback'."

Stacey's gaze traveled around in the room, trying to distract her view in order not to start crying.

"Hey.. Stacey... look at me" the latina demanded with a soft voice. Their eyes met again and Santana felt sorry for the blonde whose vision had already become blurry from her tears.

"It really sucked that you lied to me and I honestly admit that I felt very betrayed in... but slapping you was wrong. Just in that moment - yeah... I felt like you deserved it... and well, when I'm hurt, I sometimes lack words and let my actions speak..."

Santana brushed some hair behind her ear.

"I'll work on that though" she added with a slightly embarassed voice.

"It's okay... I can take it. You do slap like a girl" she added, trying to smile and lighten the mood a little.

"I'm not mad at you.." she then tried to return to the original topic. "I just... What does it mean for us now? I don't know... just tell me honestly what you think."

"I don't know ..." the latina replied slowly. "I think we might have rushed into things... I'm not saying I dont want you, cause I do. The past days with you were amazing, I get nervous when I'm around you, you're a very special girl..."

"But it's not enough, right?" Stacey interrupted her speech, her voice sad and disappointed.

Santana sighed.

"I just think I need to be on my own for a while... I wanna be honest with you, Stacey, cause I always was. You're really someone I can see myself fall in love with. You managed to make me happy, make me laugh, make me feel okay with who I am... and I'm so very thankful for all of that..."

The latina swallowed hard.

"... but the stuff that was going on with Brittany... It all feels like fresh wounds... I thought I could just move on and forget about it, or ignore it, or distract myself - but it didn't work out as I had hoped. I guess it wouldnt be fair to you to start something serious when I'm not even fully understanding my own emotions..."

Santana was somehow surprised by her own words and mature actions, glad she managed to stay so calm, and relieved to honestly talk about what she felt.

"Do you want her back? I mean... are you planning to fight for her, now that you two kissed and all...?" the blonde asked, somehow hoping Santana would say no.

"I dont know, Stacey... I'm sorry. I really have no idea."

The other girl just nodded, trying to force a smile while the first tear ran down her cheek.

"Im sorry... I don't wanna cry. I mean... I just don't wanna lose you... I'm sorry I lied" Stacey then brought out, sobs and sniffles coming faster than she had expected.

Alarmed by the blonde's sudden crying, Santana moved over to Stacey and hugged her .

"Hey hey... shh.. I dont wanna lose you either" she whispered, stroking blonde hair and petting the other girl's back.

"I don't know, if it's okay with you, I'd just suggest we stay good friends for now? I dont think it's too late for that, there's still so much we dont know about each other. I still wanna go out with you, hang out, talk and get to know you even better - all that stuff"

"My mom is back" Stacey suddenly burst out in a mix of laughter and heartbreaking sob.

"What? When? Why?" Santana exclaimed surprised, releasing the blonde from her hug in order to look at her.

"Today.. she just stood there all of a sudden... she wants to move back in, she's sorry, she's in therapy..." the blonde rambled, grabbing a tissue to blow her nose.

"Stacey - thats great, isn't it?" the latina smiled with genuine excitement, hugging her again.

The taller girl cleared her throat, calming down from her sobs.

"Yes.. yes I guess, too. I realized how much I missed her. I really really hope it will work out this time..."

"Me too" Santana replied friendly, squeezing the blonde's hand.

"San?" the blonde asked carefully, not letting go of the latina's fingers.

"Hm?"

"Would it be okay for you if I stay a little longer? Idk.. it just helps being here with you, it was such a damn confusing day.."

"It really was" Santana agreed, still feeling her own emotional confusion in every bone of her body.

"And sure, you can stay as long as you like."

Stacey laid down next to Santana on the bed. She didn't even wanna kiss her, she just needed to feel assured she was not losing the latina completely.

Slowly feeling her body relax again, Stacey decided she needed to know one more thing.

"I have one more question..." she began, looking at the ceiling.

"What is it?"

"Do you think that.. I mean.. Did you sleep with me because I reminded you of her? Because of what I did, connected to the list and all?" the blonde asked, a little scared what the answer might be.

Santana turned to her side to look at her, smiling a little and shaking her head.

"No" she said very friendly. "I slept with you because I liked the person I saw and still see in you, this unique and amazing character who is very special and doesn't need to fake anyone."

Stacey just nodded and smiled, breathing out slowly in relief, enjoying to be next to the latina for a little while longer before heading back home to a house that finally wasn't empty anymore.

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The next day, Artie and Brittany were sitting in a café, eating icecream. As she had already done the past few weeks, the blonde was giving her boyfriend the silent treatment, absent-mindedly stirring the spoon around in her sundae. Artie had more or less given up trying to start a conversation with the blonde, already knowing that it was of no use lately.

"I have to tell you something and I think you're gonna be mad" Brittany suddenly broke the silence, looking up from the cup in front of her.

"I was afraid you'd say that sooner or later" Artie admitted, widening his and expecting the worst.

"It's about Santana, Artie... we kissed."

The boy released the breath he didn't even know he'd been holding and laughed in relief.

"Oh Brit, I know that."

"You know?" the blonde exclaimed, shocked and confused. "How?"

"Everyone knows, - even a blind person would see it. I know you two were still making out sometimes when we started dating, but.. yeah... I figured I shouldn't talk about it, I mean, I know you guys are very close and you have been for years, so I figured it's okay and I just accept it."

Brittany frowned, staring at her boyfriend in disbelief.

"Why did you never say anything?"

"I don't know, Brit... I just think- well- what does a pretty, talented and healthy girl want with a boy in a wheelchair? I figured..." Artie had to clear his throat. "I figured I probably couldn't give you all you needed... I mean... sexually" he admitted, pronouncing the last word and looking at the young dancer.

"Remember the other night, when we wanted to do that thing and it didn't quite work out...?" - now it was his turn to start stirring in his sundae.

"But that was no problem for me, I told you that!" Brittany defended herself, appalled by her boyfriend's insecurities connected to their sexlife.

"I know you did.. but I figured that, yeah, I'd let you get this kind of satisfaction with a girl who is also your best friend, rather than one day finding you cheat on me with another guy."

"Wait, you think I'd cheat on you with another guy because there's some sex stuff that you can't do?" the blonde exclaimed, starting to feel offended by the boy's assumptions.

"No, I didn't mean you'd necessarily do that, I'm just saying I accepted that you get some satisfaction with Santana, I thought it could only be helpful for our relationship.."

Brittany was entirely confused now.

"This all wasn't even what I wanted to talk about. I just wanted to tell you that we kissed. Yesterday. And it was a different kiss than usual, because it was the first time we kissed since we talked about feelings. We never did that. Usually we just made out, and that wasn't cheating anyways. Because the plumbing's different." she rambled, hoping that Artie was able to follow her thoughts.

"I wouldn't cheat on you Artie, that's why I told you now right away about the kiss."

"Brit..." he sighed, getting ready to use his lecturing voice.

"Sex is sex... it doesnt matter if it's between a boy and a girl or two people of the same gender. When you decide to get physical with a different person than your own partner, then it's definitely cheating. And like I said, I don't even blame you..."

Brittany started waving her hand in order for Artie to shut up. She felt completely terrible, thinking that her boyfriend had been living in this relationship all this time, accepting the thought that she was cheating on him with her best friend.

"But you were so mad at me when you thought I cheated on you with Mike, why was it different with Santana?" she wanted to know, hoping to understand the boy better.

"I don't know .. All I know is that you're a good person, Brittany. And I know you don't want to hurt anyone, being with you in this relationship really taught me that. When we first started dating, I didn't even know u, I thought you didn't really care about my feelings when you took my virginity... but in the past months I really got to know and understand you much better , and I learned to love what I found out about you. And I know you love Santana just as much as you love me... I think... yeah.. I just wanted you to be happy."

Brittany felt like throwing up. She didn't know how to analyze Artie's confession. Even though she appreciated his words and good intentions, it suddenly felt like their relationship had been a lie, something about it didnt feel right anymore, as if it wasn't even real.

She swallowed hard.

"I'm sorry, Artie.. " she said, looking at him with a sad face and finally pronouncing what she should have done weeks ago.

"I don't think I can be in this relationship anymore. I didn't wanna cheat on you, I hope you know that. I should have known better, I should have understood that being with Santana meant too much to just keep rolling with it. I didnt wanna hurt you..."

"Hey, Brit.. " he interrupted her, taking her hand. "It's okay.. I know... "

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Back at home, Brittany finally felt something she hadn't felt in... - well she had probably never even felt that before in her life: clarity.

For the first time she didn't feel confused, she felt entirely light-hearted. Part of her still felt sorry for Artie but apart from that, it was as if a door had suddenly swung wide open and what she saw was Santana. No one else.

Completely chipper she hopped up the steps to the entrance door, half walking, half dancing into the hallway.

"What's up with you?" her dad asked who was standing in the living room's doorframe.

"I'm in love!" Brittany sang, hugging her father.

"Uh... I'm glad you and Artie get along so well.." he said, surprised by his daughter's small cuddle attack.

"Not Artie, dad. We broke up."

Mister Pierce was just frowning now, not asking any further questions.

"Gotta go again though" Brittany went on while throwing some things into her bag that were lying around in the house.

"Where?" her dad wanted to know, his gaze trying to follow his daughter who moved faster than he could look.

"To make sure that she loves me back!"

"She?" the confused father asked, but the entrance door had already been closed again and his daughter had jumped on her pink bike, driving away.

"Teenagers..." he sighed, shaking his head and returning to his coffee and newspaper.

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TBC